Starting this school year, students at Proviso East and Proviso West will have the ability to participate in a variety of enrichment activities during what Proviso Township High Schools District 209 officials are calling Period 1 Extended Learning Opportunities for Students (ELOS).
All students at East and West are required to be in attendance beginning with the second period, official stated in a document released last month.
The ELOS period takes place from 8 a.m. to 8:50 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and requires an additional bus runs to transport students to the high schools before the first period begins. District officials project that the extra bus service will cost an additional $287,967, or $130.42 for each run.
The additional cost of the bus service will come from Title I funds allocated for fiscal year 2019, officials said. The funding is necessary, since the additional bus runs “are key to students taking advantage of the program.”
The Title I funds “have been used in a similar manner over the last few years to provide transportation for students accessing after school academic supports, such as tutoring, credit recovery and library services,” officials stated.
District administration officials said that they collaborated with First Student, the school bus transportation company, to develop the ELOS transportation routes.
“All students will be made aware of their ELOS and Regular bus route, stop and pickup time prior to the start of school,” officials stated. “Ridership and utilization of the ELOS transportation routes will be monitored to determine if adjustments are needed, as the year progresses.”
In a statement posted to the district’s website, D209 Superintendent Jesse Rodriguez said that the ELOS actives include “receiving small-group and individual instruction from teachers, taking make-up exams and completing classwork, meeting with counselors, utilizing computer labs and library resources, and receiving support for math and literacy skills.”
Attendance at ELOS is “expected of all students,” Rodriguez noted, adding that students “may choose the ELOS activities that best fit their needs, unless they are specifically assigned to sessions to make up work or participate in interventions.”
The bus transportation for ELOS will be provided for students who receive regular bus service, Rodriguez said. He said that families were mailed information about the new transportation scheduled and the ELOS activities.
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